Consciousness Flashcards
Conscious
being awake and aware with control
Unconscious
being asleep or unaware
The Unconscious
unaware memories, desires etc
Consciousness
- A mental state, a way of perceiving, awareness
- May involve thoughts, sensations, perceptions, moods, emotions, dreams, self-awareness, subject-object relations
- Subjective experience
- Nagel- the existence of ‘something that it is like’ to be e.g. what is it like to be a bat
- Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs)
- Non-ordinary states of consciousness
Altered state of consciousness
- Any mental state induced by agents that can be recognised subjectively by the individual as representing a sufficient idk
ASC
o Sleeping/dreaming
o Pre/post sleep states
o Meditation
o Hypnosis
o Under influence of psychoactive substance
o Dissociation and trances
o Adrenal, endorphin, hormonal states
Characteristics of ASC
o Alterations in thinking
o Disturbed sense of time
o Loss of control
o Change in emotional expression
o Body image change
o Perceptual distoritions
o Change of meaning or significance
o Sense of ineffable- cant explain bc its mind blowing
o Feelings of rejuvenation
o Hyper suggestibility- open to suggestions
Investigating ASC
- Brain imaging techniques
o Electroencephalograph (EEG)
o Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan)
o Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - Cognitive tests (e.g. startle response)
- Subjective reports
- State questionnaires
o Dittrich’s 1998 ASC scale
o 3 oblique dimensions - Oceanic Boundlessness
- Dread of Ego Dissolution
- Visionary Destructuralisation
Sleep and dreaming
- Electroencephalograph (EEG)
o Measures electromagnetic variation of scalp
o Term coined by Hans Berger 1924
o Interested in transmission method for telepathy
o Discovered different wave forms - Different states of alertness found to exhibit different wave forms
Stages of sleep
- Awake
- REM sleep
- Stage 1
- Stage 2
- Stage 3
- Stage 4
- We go through each stage as we sleep. Up and down.
Hypnagogic
liminal waking-sleeping stage
Hypnopompic
liminal sleep- waking stage
Sleep theory
- Opponent process model
o 2 opposing drives
o Homeostatic sleep drive (nocturnal)
o Physiological process strives to sleep
o Clock-dependent altering process (diurnal)
o Biological clock rouses sleeper
o Operated circadian rhythm - 2 opposing drives interact to produce daily cycles
- Controlled by neuro-hormonal/chemical processes
Neurochemical basis of sleeping and dreaming
- Pineal controls sleep and dreams (???) hormone/NT production
- Pineal like eye, sensitive to light
- Serotonin produced in day
- 5HT converted to melatonin at night
- Serotonin= alert
- Melatonin= sleep
- Pineal also thought to produce DMT
- DMT is endogenous hallucinogenic
- DMT thought to regulate dreams
Dreaming
- Everyone dreams but may not recall it
o Pre-schoolers may not dream
o Stroke patients may lose dreams - Dream recall- ‘attended to’ dreams better consolidation
o Waking activity crucial
o Motivation to recall predicts recall ability - Recall tips
o Sleep with a pen and paper by bed
o Tell yourself before sleeping that you will recall dreams
o Write down dreams immediately upon waking
